


Extraction

by ghastly7



Series: One After Another: The Series [5]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, and for some reason you people keep enabling me, as per usual, this whole series is just slow burn terror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:21:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25143061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghastly7/pseuds/ghastly7
Summary: Marie finds out that Octavio has escaped his containment, and that doesn't bode well for some of her fellow agents who are out in the field. It's time to get them back.I recommend reading the rest of the series first, but eh, what do I know. I just write the thing.
Relationships: Agent 3/Agent 8 (Splatoon), Agent 4/Marie (Splatoon), Marina/Pearl (Splatoon)
Series: One After Another: The Series [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552660
Comments: 274
Kudos: 126





	1. Chapter 1

Marie was worried.

She didn't let that worry get in the way of her jobs, mind you. She was still patrolling, filling out paperwork, meeting with Gramps, working on songs, trying to sustain a healthy relationship with Four, trying to keep her cousin… stable, et cetera, et cetera. She was trying not to let her worry impact those very important tasks.

But, when she had quiet moments in her tasks, that was when the thoughts bubbled back up.

She knew Three had said that she and Eight would be a few days, and  _ yes _ , a week technically counted as a few days, but… she had really expected them to come back up sooner. Their escapade underground had not yet ended, which was unexpected for someone like Three. She tended to be a 'get things done and get out' type of character. But Marie trusted her fellow agents were making the choice that was best for them, so she wouldn't judge the time it took.

She just wished they'd come back a little faster. She was starting to get tired of piling their usual work on top of her own.

She sighed and kept moving across the sun-bleached ground. Ever since inkling society had rediscovered the existence of octarians, the NSS had made the official decision to move DJ Octavio's containment cell further into Octo Canyon. It was for his own protection (as backwards as it was for the NSS to give him  _ any _ protection, especially considering the crimes against his own kind that had recently surfaced). However, it made the process of going to clean the cell a hassle. And so, Marie slogged her way along with some rubber gloves, a sponge, and a bucket of ink.

… The octarians had robots that would do this stuff automatically. Should they steal one…?

This thought process reached a dead halt as Marie turned a corner and found a giant snowglobe, shattered to pieces on the ground.

… Shit.

Shit shit SHIT!

Marie took a moment to look around. This was bad. Octavio was out. And if he was out, he probably went back to the rest of his kind. Into the kettles.

… Right where Three and Eight were.

Marie yanked her phone out of her pocket and sent a text to every number in the NSS. It was only four words.

EMERGENCY MEETING. CUTTLEFISH CABIN.

* * *

"Can we know why we're here?" Pearl asked, kicking at a pebble near her foot.

"Yeah, the all-caps in your text is kind of freaking me out," Four said.

"That's good. That means it properly conveyed my emotions at the time," Marie said before taking a few gargantuan shards of glass and dropping them on the ground in the middle of the congregation.

"What are we looking at?" Callie asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just what's left of the snowglobe that  _ DJ freaking Octavio was supposed to be in _ !" Marie snapped.

"Oh," Callie said.

"That's bad," Marina said.

"That is… worse than bad," Cap'n Cuttlefish said, staring down at the glimmering glass pieces.

"But he's gotten out before and we've stopped him," Four said. "Come on, guys, all we have to do is take him down again!"

"That's not going to be so simple," Marie said.

"Hm?" Four questioned.

"DJ Octavio may be cruel, manipulative, and at times a bit uncreative, but he is leader of the octarians for a reason," Cuttlefish said. "His ruthlessness is matched only by his cunning. He won't fail a third time. Not so easily."

Pearl suddenly pounded her fist on the wall of the cabin. "Jesus Christ, I just realized, Eight and Three are down there! The fucking overlord just showed up while they were in the middle of his domain!"

"And they  _ have _ been gone a long time…" Callie said.

"It would not be unreasonable to assume that something has happened," Cuttlefish said. Then he cleared his throat and his posture straightened. "A rescue mission may be necessary."

"Really? A full rescue mission?" Four asked.

"Yes," Cuttlefish said, gesturing his cane with authority. "We have agents missing, and an enemy at large. We need to take back all three."

"Alright, well… who is going on this mission?" Marina asked.

"All of you," Cuttlefish said.

"Uhh… is that really necessary?" Pearl asked.

"Without question," Cuttlefish said. "If Agent Three or Agent Eight were able to be taken on their own, let alone together, it means that DJ Octavio has a much more… comprehensive strategy than he has had in the past. And that is an unnerving prospect."

"You aren't wrong. Three and Eight are probably the strongest fighters in all of Inkopolis. This is a big deal," Four said.

"Well then, who is going to guard Octo Canyon?" Marie asked.

"I am capable of that much," Cuttlefish said. "As much as I would like to, I'm too old to dive into enemy territory anymore. But you can leave protecting the entrance in my hands."

"Wait, wait, everyone hold on for a moment," Marina said, stretching her arms outwards in an attempt to maintain calm. "Are we even one-hundred-percent certain that Three and Eight are in trouble?"

"If they aren't, then they can help us take down Octavio again," Marie said. "If they  _ are _ in trouble, though, then the octarians are going to have hell to pay."

"... Okay, I suppose that's reasonable," Marina said.

"Everyone, I want you to grab your guns, your ink tanks, and anything else you might need," Marie said. "Marina, can I get your help in potentially finding a way to track our lost agents?"

"I think I have a few ideas," Marina said, scratching her chin.

"Great," Marie said.

"I hope you all are ready," Cuttlefish said. "Tonight you start your assault on the Octarian Army."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a few things I want to discuss:
> 
> A: This story will update much less consistently than the last, and probably less frequently. I have less written for it than I'd like, so I don't want to rush myself.
> 
> 2: I'm currently working on editing a Let's Play that I recorded! The game is Bug Fables and the video will probably end up being about 30-40 minutes long. If you're interested in that, neat! Keep an eye out for it! I'll try to notify you guys when it's finished and posted.
> 
> Yellow: The voice actresses for Pearl and Marina actually teamed up and made a song together. It's called THIS IS HOW WE DO by Lighter190E and Alice. Check it out. It's a hell of a jam.
> 
> Until next time folks, stay suffering!


	2. Chapter 2

"Marie?"

"Yes, Four?" the Squid Sister said, a little bit of fatigue peeking through her voice.

"Do… do you know what the octarians might have done with Three and Eight?"

Marie was silent for a moment, which was not exactly reassuring. Eventually, though, she spoke.

"I… don't," she said simply, and then she elaborated. "They might have imprisoned them, or… the worst might have happened."

"You think they might be… y'know…" Four gestured noncommittally, "... dead?"

Marie shuffled uncomfortably. "It's a possibility." She left the room briefly to grab something, then returned, still looking pensive. "After we took those shades back with Callie, I don't think the octarians can do something like what they did with her again. So… either Three and Eight are still down there, avoiding capture, the octarians have kept them for some sort of plan, or… or they killed them."

"... Jeeze…" Four said. "I sure hope it's option number one."

Then Callie walked into the room, her hands filled with supplies.

"Hey Marie, can I get some help with packing?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, hang on a second Callie. I want to make sure Four is all set up," Marie said.

"Four's a big girl, she can handle herself," Callie said, some subtle hostility lining her voice. Four definitely picked it up, but she wasn't sure if Marie did. Then Callie kept speaking. "Come on, I need your help here, Marie."

"O-okay," Marie said. Then she turned to her girlfriend. "Are you gonna be okay in here?"

Four put on a smile. "Y-yeah, I guess I'll-"

"Great! Thanks, Four!" Callie curtly interrupted before pulling Marie with her out of the room. The white-tentacled squid sister looked back at the other agent as she was dragged out.

Four sighed, now alone in an empty room in Cuttlefish Cabin. And now all she could think about was whether Eight and Three were alive or not.

God, she hoped they were alive.

* * *

"I was not expecting this to happen the day after my proposal," Pearl said a bit mournfully. "I was expecting, y'know, celebrations and such."

"I know, Pearlie. It's unfortunate," Marina said. "Then again, no day would have been a good day for this to happen."

"You're right…" Pearl said, wiping some smudges off of the disassembled pieces of her dualies. "I sort of can't believe that this could be happening to Eight  _ again _ . I mean… how unlucky can one person be?"

"Eight isn't unlucky, she's just…" Marina paused to search for the right words, "... danger prone."

"Yeah, that's the same thing as being unlucky," Pearl said, snapping the pieces of her weapons back together.

"... Yeah… you might be right…" Marina relented.

Pearl smirked. "We're going to be a married couple soon. We need to stop agreeing so much. We need to bicker more."

Marina chuckled, her hearts skipping a couple of beats at the mention of their impending wedding. "When should we tell the others?"

"Well my gut tells me that we should announce it right away, but considering what's going on, we should probably hold off on that," Pearl said. "Maybe after we get Eight and Three out of there and this all blows over?"

"I think that's reasonable," Marina said. "I'm sure they're fine down there. They probably just can't get back safely due to Octavio's return."

"Yeah," Pearl said, putting her weapons aside. Then she drummed her fingers on the table for a bit before speaking again. "Marina…"

"Yes?"

Pearl hesitated, but then spoke. "Are  _ you _ going to be okay going back?"

* * *

"Here we are," Marie said as they reached a kettle not too far from Cuttlefish Cabin.

"This brings back memories," Four said, smiling fondly. "This was my first kettle… well,  _ ever _ . I haven't been back to it in months."

"It's also… very far from the main workings of octarian society," Marina said. "Are you sure we should start from so far away?"

"If you are going to launch an assault, this is the place to do it from," Cuttlefish said. "Many of these kettles were made specifically to slow us down, yes, but jumping straight into the middle would give the octarians the chance to surround you from behind. You need to clear a path."

"Understood," Marie said. "We'll see you soon, Gramps."

"I wish all of you luck," Cuttlefish said, saluting.

"Alright, let's go," Marie said, before turning to squid form and diving into the grate of the kettle.

Or at least that was what she thought would happen. Instead, she bonked her head on some sort of metal plate that was blocking the entrance.

"What?" Marie said, now in her normal form and on her rear end.

"What?!" Callie said, similarly confused.

"What? What's wrong?" Pearl asked.

"They sealed it!" Marie said, now on her hands and knees, examining the kettle. "They can't do that! That's not how this works!"

She knocked on the grate. She shook it. She tried to kick it in. None of it served to open it up.

"Why don't they normally seal it?" Four asked.

"Because this is the only airflow that the kettles get!" Marie said, exasperated. "With this sealed, everything in the kettle would suffocate in a few minutes!"

Pearl turned her head to Marina for confirmation, and the octoling nodded.

Four ran over to another kettle and knocked on it. Sealed. She went to the next. Sealed.

"They're all closed!" Four said.

"We need a drill. Maybe we could get through." Marina commented.

"We have one," Callie said.

"Actually… it's at Four's place," Marie said. "We used it to help her take some of her furniture apart so that we could move all of it to Cuttlefish Cabin, and we… kind of left it."

"I'll go get it," Four said before dashing away into the grate to Inkopolis.

* * *

Popping back out, Four was ready to sprint off. She didn't have a moment to lose. Three and Eight needed help as soon as they could get it. But then…

"Hey, it's Four!" a male voice said.

Four jumped out of her skin. She whipped around to the source of the noise. An inkling with a gas mask.

Another similarly-dressed inkling came over and pinched him by the ear. "Jason, you've got to stop doing that."

"Ow, ow, sorry!"

Oh. Four knew who these were. These were those inklings that she and Eight had played turf war with a while back.

"Hey, Jason and Garrett, right?" she asked.

"Yup, that's us," Jason said. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has been," Four said.

"How's Eight doing?" Jason asked.

"Uh…" Four didn't know how to respond to that. It was a bit of a delicate issue, after all. But she also wasn't a liar. "... Bad. Very bad."

"What? Is she okay? What happened?" Jason asked.

"I… can't really tell you, but we're- I'm working on helping her out right now," Four said.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Garrett asked.

"Well…" Four said, then she thought for a moment. "... Yeah." She pointed to the grate behind her. "Can you check up over here every once in a while while I'm gone and make sure that nobody goes down this grate?"

"Uhh, sure, but… why?" Garrett said.

"Again, I… can't really tell you. But I'd really appreciate it!" Four said.

Jason put a hand on the other male's shoulder, nodded reassuringly to him, then looked to Four. "We can do that for you."

"Thank you so much," Four said. Then she turned towards the direction of her home. "If everything goes well, I'll be back soon." She turned her head back to the other two once more. "But in my line of work, usually something ends up going wrong, so…" She stared off into the distance for a moment. "... Be seeing you." And then she super jumped away without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally had no intentions to bring Jason and Garrett back, but you guys seemed relatively interested in them, and I think they have a lot of potential, so here is their triumphant return!
> 
> Anyways, Four and Marie are stressin', Callie's... yeah, and Off the Hook are hearing the wedding bells at the worst possible time.
> 
> I realize that I didn't request for you guys to comment last chapter, so I'll just have to do it twice as hard this chapter.
> 
> *clears throat*
> 
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACOMMENTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> ow my voice


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm back!" Four said, stepping towards the group and touting the drill that she had recovered. The group had moved further into Octo Canyon, and the Captain was no longer with them, as he was probably getting ready for his post.

"Hey Four," Pearl greeted.

"Tough luck dude, turns out you did all of that for nothing," Callie said with a little too much enthusiasm.

" _Callie_ ," Marie warned, but didn't say anything else in regards to her fellow Squid Sister's tone. "Anyways, sorry Four. We actually found another drill while you were gone. We tried it, but the metal's too thick."

"Oh… okay," Four said. "I guess I'll just… put this here then…" She awkwardly placed the drill on a rock.

"I mean, is it really that big of a deal? We just have to find a new entry point," Pearl said.

"It's not really about the entry point," Marie said. "If these kettles are closed off, it means that no one is here. They can't be. There would be no air. And if that's true, that means that the octarians are all gathering in one place, which makes our job a _lot_ harder."

"Meaning…?" Pearl asked.

"This assault has just become a stealth mission," Marie said.

"Blegh. I hate those," Callie said.

"That's probably for good reason," Marina said. "I can only imagine that stealth missions down there don't have much margin for error."

"When Octavio's not there, it's usually pretty simple, actually," Marie said. "But now that he's back and uniting everyone under a single purpose, things will probably get trickier."

"But we don't have a choice, do we?" Four asked.

"Nope," Marie said. "We have to head straight to the military operations kettle. It's not going to be easy to stay concealed, but we have to try."

"Alright then. Onward!" Pearl cheered. She marched forward with a new resolve.

"That's not… the right way…" Callie said.

Pearl stopped. "Yeah, I… uh… was kinda expecting somebody else to lead the pack. I have no clue where I'm going."

* * *

Marie transformed from her squid form and touched down, then looked around. No guards. She was surprised. She had been expecting more resistance when she entered the kettle, but she was not at all dissatisfied to see that she was wrong.

"All clear," she spoke quietly into her earpiece.

Three squids and one octopus slid through the grate and plopped down behind her before returning to their normal forms.

"So gimme the skinny," Pearl said. "What do I need to know about this place?"

"You see that?" Marie said, pointing to an octoling just barely visible in the distance. "And that over there?" She pointed to a bloated octarian helicoptering around through the air. "And them?" She pointed to some octolings guarding a door much lower down than where the group was standing. "All of those are dangerous. Avoid them at all costs."

"Marie, some of the people down here probably don't even _want_ to be here," Marina said. "Your song freed so many minds. We need to be open-minded."

"I know, but it's still safer to stay out of sight from _everyone_ ," Marie said. "We can't take the time to discern everyone's intentions."

Four nodded. "So, how are we going to find-"

"Yo, what's the plan to find Three and Eight?" Callie interrupted.

"... I was asking that…" Four mumbled to herself.

Marie paused, but then shook her head and spoke. "Marina found three points of interest. Agent Six, would you like to explain?"

"Yes," Marina said. She pulled out her phone and cycled through some visuals. "The first thing I looked for was their earpieces. They took them underground with them, and the NSS makes sure that those devices are easily traceable as long as you know the right codes." She swiped her phone, showing a picture of octarian goggles. "Secondly, Eight took my old goggles with her. I disabled the hypnotism, but I know that Octavio is a sadist who can't resist some spiteful irony. He probably would have those goggles fixed and try to use them against us. They are not too hard for me to track, though." One more swipe, and Marina's phone displayed a rough vertical map of the area with a pulsing orange blob overlayed on it. "And thirdly, I picked up a big energy spike in this area of the kettle. It may not be anything related to Three and Eight, but it's something that we should probably still investigate."

"Got it," Four said.

"So let's talk teams," Marie said. "Pearl, Marina, you're on goggle duty. Track those things down and see if you can find anything." She turned to Callie. "Cal, you go investigate the earpieces. And that leaves me and-"

"Nah, I'm on your team, Marie," Callie said, wrapping her arm around her cousin and pulling her into a sort of possessive side-hug. "Let's go find those earpieces together."

Marie fumbled. "U-um… that's… I-"

"Don't worry about it, cuz," Callie said. "Four can handle the energy spike investigation thing on her own. Right Four?"

Four opened her mouth, closed it, opened it, closed it, like a fish out of water. Eventually she got something out. "I… uh… Y-yeah."

"See! Perfect team setup! Let's go team!" Callie exclaimed, smiling brightly.

"Um… Yes," Marie said, sending a pitying and maybe slightly guilty look to Four. Even Pearl and Marina were awkwardly glancing at each other.

Then Marie regained her composure. "... Let's get going. Remember, stealth above anything else. We'll meet up if… _when_ we get our agents back."

"I'm sending trackers to each of your phones for your targets," Marina said.

"Stay safe, everyone," Pearl said. "We'll get them back and then we'll take down Octavio. We've got this."

And then, with some short goodbyes, the group parted ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so 8/3 day happened a bit ago! I'm only, like, 13 days late! Yahoo!
> 
> Sorry for how belated this was. I'm trying to write too many things at once and have way too many other projects right now, and I need to narrow it down. I care too much about this story to let it fizzle out, so I've just gotta commit to writing it!
> 
> I hope you all are having wonderful days, staying safe from the Virus™, and smiling! Leave a comment, and I'll see you again soon!


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey Marie," Callie said quietly as they slinked through the maze-like structures of the kettle.

This kettle in particular was much more developed than the vast majority of the others. Even with the limited electricity that the octarians had without the Great Zapfish on hand, the panels that lined the kettle were lit, displaying a facsimile of a blue sky. There were even entirely octarian-made rock features, making the area look less like a series of suspended platforms and more like a military base built out of the sides of various cliffs. Strangely fascinating… but a facet of the Octarian Military nonetheless, so it was not exactly built from kind intentions.

"Marie, hey," Callie insisted.

"We're trying to sneak, Callie. Now might not be a good time," Marie said.

"Mhmm," Callie said. She waited a whole six seconds before saying, "So, Marie…"

Marie cracked up a bit despite herself. This was very… Callie. It wasn't often that the black-tentacled Squid Sister acted like her old self. Before the shades took her over, she joked a lot more, and laughed even more than that. She was impatient, and loving, and childish… but that seemed to have been taken from the inkling. Guilt over what had happened under the thrall of those hypnotic glasses had dulled her quirkier personality traits and left her… grayer.

And it wasn't just the guilt. Marie saw it every once in a while. Callie's hands would tremble, reach for something that wasn't there, frantically try to rip something invisible off of her own face… the shades had done something to her brain. Something chemical. Despite everything, Marie knew that her cousin still fought against the urge to retrieve those shades. It was part of the reason that Marie and Gramps had locked them away in a heavy box, chained the box up, and dropped it into the ocean. It was as much a safety precaution as it was a deterrent.

But at least Callie seemed content now.

"I'm glad that we're getting to do a mission together again. It's been a while," Callie said, grinning.

"I mean, I wish the circumstances were better…" Marie said, "... but yeah. This is nice."

"So how's the relationship with Four?" Callie asked suddenly.

"What?" Marie stumbled.

"Four. Your girlfriend. The girl that you spend, like,  _ all  _ of your time with these days," Callie said.

"I don't spend all of my time with her," Marie said. "Actually, I've been struggling to spend any time with her at all recently..."

"Well it  _ feels _ like you spend all of your time with her," Callie said, crossing her arms. "Anyways, things aren't going well with her?"

"I didn't say that, it's just…" Marie stopped. How was she supposed to say that all of her time and attention had been focused on Callie recently? Was there even a  _ possible _ way to say that delicately? "Things are fine with Four," Marie settled on.

"Just… fine?" Callie said. "Don't you ever want something more than 'fine'?"

"... What is that supposed to mean?" Marie asked, but then her phone blipped a little in her hand. "We're close. Must be in the back of these barracks." She pointed to the building that they were passing near.

Callie nodded, and they both moved to the door. Thankfully, it seemed that whatever plan Octavio was cooking up was keeping his lackeys away from the temporary barracks.

Marie carefully tried the handle, but the door was locked. Applying some pressure to the door itself didn't solve the problem.

"That's inconvenient," Marie said. "Hey Cal, do you still know how to pick locks?"

"It's been a while, but yeah, I think so," Callie said.

She took a bobby pin out of her tentacles, letting the ends drop from their braid and fall all the way to the floor with a dull slap. Then she outstretched her hand to the other squid sister.

"I need another pin. Can you spot me on this one?" the black-tentacled inkling asked.

"Uh... yeah. Sure," Marie said, taking her own pin out and letting down her (much shorter) tentacles.

Taking the second pin, Callie kneeled down in front of the door and went to work at cracking the lock. After several minutes and a few failed attempts, the door finally clicked.

"There we go!" Callie said, standing up and handing Marie her pin back. "See? We make a great team!" Was Marie picking up a little… desperation in her voice?

The elder Squid Sister dismissed the thought and started pinning her tentacles back up again as Callie did the same. Once their styles were remedied, Callie spoke again.

"Alright, I don't think anyone's in there, but just in case…" she drew her roller from her back with a flourish, "... I'm your girl!"

"Alright, get in there, 'my girl'," Marie said with a roll of her eyes.

Callie beamed, then stepped into the room. Marie walked in close behind.

The room they entered was a back room to the actual barracks, where each soldier's military equipment seemed to be kept. Ink packs hung on various hooks on the walls, and a few ink guns were laid out in cubbies. There was even a full-on Inkzooka leaning against a wall.

"Alright, according to Marina's tracker the earpieces should be… right here," Marie said, reaching her hand into a cubby full of various scattered items that seemed yet to be sorted. She dug around for a while before pulling out one, then two earpieces.

"Well, guess that's a bust for Three and Eight being here… but at least we got some equipment back?" Callie offered.

"Yeah…" Marie said. "... But just in case, I feel like we should be thorough." She reached for the door to the rest of the barracks and let it swing open. And then, once she looked into the next room, she did a double-take.

When Marie had suggested that they continue investigating, she honestly hadn't been expecting to find Three in the next room over. But…

"What the fuck?" Callie said.

Three was just… kneeling in the center of the barracks, completely unrestrained and with her back turned to the two Squid Sisters.

"Hey Three! What are you doing? We were worried about you, dude!" Callie said, sauntering towards the agent.

Marie held her arm in front of her cousin, blocking her from advancing any further. She didn't like this.

Three didn't react to Callie's voice at all. She just stayed staring at the front door of the barracks.

"... Three…?" Marie said cautiously. She slowly approached, fully prepared for this all to be a trap. This felt so wrong. Was this some sort of… decoy of Three? A Threecoy? Was the ground going to fall out from under them once they reached her or something?

Marie, instead of continuing to approach from behind, crept around Three until she could see the Agent's face, and then things started to come into focus.

"Oh god," Marie said, covering her mouth with a hand.

"What? What's wrong?" Callie asked, and then she rushed up to be beside her cousin and see what was happening. Once she saw it, she froze. "O-oh."

The shades. The same kind that had pulled Callie into their thrall twice. Three was wearing them now, blankly staring at nothing. But… these couldn't be the  _ same  _ shades, could they be? No, it wasn't possible! Marie and Cuttlefish had dumped them into the sea!

But that made even less sense if they  _ weren't _ the same shades. Before they were deemed too dangerous for everyone's (but mostly Callie's) safety, the NSS kept those shades and studied them. The examination hadn't gone far, but a few things were certain- they were nearly impossible to destroy, and they were  _ not _ of octarian design. Nothing about the way the shades worked was similar to any other machine used by the octarians. Sure, Octavio knew how to brainwash his people with music, but the shades didn't function in remotely the same fashion. And that meant that the octarians wouldn't be able to replicate the device…

… Right...?

It didn't matter right then. What mattered was getting them off.

Marie stepped forward and grabbed the hypno-shades on Three's face. When it was clear that the agent wasn't going to lash out, she started to lift them off. As soon as her eye became visible, however, the half-inkling lurched backwards, causing Marie to stumble away and drop the shades, leaving them to clatter to the ground.

"Eight!!! Snap out of it!" Three exclaimed, scrambling backwards and assuming a pugilistic stance. Then her expression turned to confusion as she seemed to register where she was and who was in front of her. "What… Marie?! Callie?! What the fuck? What happened to me?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God damn, I'm getting busy. I'm also getting obsessed with the Ace Attorney franchise, but that's unrelated.
> 
> But here we have the Squid Sisters recovering Three in a completely unguarded location.
> 
> Huh. Strange.
> 
> Feel free to use the comms so you can ent. I hope you all have lovely days and a lovely life!


	5. Chapter 5

"Three, calm down," Callie said.

"Calm down?!  _ Calm down?! _ No! This is all a trick isn't it? First they re-brainwash Eight, and now they're trying to mess with my head!" Three shouted out in her panicked state.

"Three, it's us. It's really us. We came down here to save you," Marie said.

Three's chest puffed in and out with heavy breaths as she laid on the ground with her arms defensively in front of her. Slowly, though, her breathing began to normalize and her panic began to dissipate.

"It's… really you?" Three asked.

"We promise," Callie said, hoping she sounded reassuring.

Three dropped her arms from in front of her face and let them slump to the ground. She seemed satisfied with this answer.

"... How… how long have we been gone…?" Three asked.

"A little more than a week," Marie said. "What happened to you?"

"... Jesus Christ, a week?" Three said, bringing a palm to her forehead. "Um, sorry, uh…" She squeezed her eye shut for a moment, as if trying to get her memories straight. "... We were about to leave, but I got attacked by some octolings. I was super outnumbered so I tried to retreat, but then Eight was brainwashed again and she…" Three's eye drifted to the shades on the ground near her feet. "... Get those things away from me." She kicked the device so that it slid away from herself and toward the Squid Sisters.

Callie was stunned for a second. "You mean… you don't want to put them back on?"

"No, I definitely fucking don't," Three said.

"Huh," Marie said, "I guess the addictive properties aren't as strong on you…? I suppose it could be that this is a new model of the shades that may be less potent in that area… or more likely is that your missing eye messed with its ability to leave a lasting impact. Yeah, that's probably it, because-"

Callie wasn't able to hear anymore of her cousin's analysis over the pounding in her ears as she stared at the shades laying on the ground. They were only a couple feet away. All she had to do was bend down and grab them.

She leaned for the precious device, taking it into her hands. Her heart was pounding. Every bit of her was so excited to let go, let the shades take over and tell her what to do. At this point, she didn't care what her orders would be. She just wanted to feel that sweet nothingness once again.

_ Do it. Do it, Callie. Put them on. Wreak havok with me once again. _

"NO!"

Suddenly Three tackled her to the ground and violently wrenched the shades from her hands before they could reach her face. Out of some hostile instinct, Callie tried to bite the agent's hand, but Three quickly swiped it away.

"Callie, no!" Three scolded, stuffing the shades into a pocket in her octarian uniform. She slowly stood up off of Callie's chest.

"Callie…?" Marie said, her voice dripping with concern.

"I'm… I'm okay. I'm okay," Callie said, trying to blink away the trance she was just in.

"Good to know. Never letting you near those things again," Three said. "I don't know what I did with these things on, but I don't want things to end up the same way they did last time that these god-forsaken shades were involved."

Marie hesitated to turn her attention away from her fellow Squid Sister, but eventually looked to Three. "Actually… I was kind of wondering about that. What you've done with the shades on, I mean. I would've expected the octarians to put you into their ranks as a powerful soldier, but instead we found you… here. In some random barracks, kneeling on the floor. Do you remember  _ anything _ from when you were being controlled?"

"... No, nothing," Three said. She seemed to be getting concerned again. "... What… what  _ did _ they make me do...?"

"That's a question for another time," Marie said. She turned back to Callie and extended a hand. "Cal… are you okay?"

"Y-yeah. Fine. I'm… fine," Callie said. "Don't worry about me."

"Too late. I'm worried about you," Marie said. Then she cleared her throat. "Alright, now that we've gotten you back, Three, we can start searching for Octavio and take him down."

"What?" Three said. "You can't be serious. I'm not going to worry about him until I've got Eight by my side again. Did you not hear me when I said that she's brainwashed again?!"

"There's no need to worry. Pearl and Marina are already on the case," Marie said.

"I frankly don't give a shit," Three said. She took the shades out of her pocket and tossed them to Marie. "Don't let Callie touch those."

"Wait, where are you going?" Callie asked.

"Wherever Eight is," Three said, brushing past the black-tentacled inkling.

"But you don't even know how to find her!" Callie said.

Three just ignored her and rushed out the front door of the barracks.

"Three! Hey!" Callie said, to no avail. The door sealed behind the half-inkling, leaving the two Squid Sisters to their lonesome.

Marie sighed. "Well, you can't say that she isn't driven."

"Yeah, but how does she expect to track Eight down? We were only able to find  _ her _ because Marina sent the details to our…" Callie felt at the pocket of her pants and her eyes widened. "Wh- Where's my phone?!"

Marie smirked. "I'll give you two guesses where. Or maybe I should say  _ Three _ guesses." She chuckled a bit.

Callie could see, however, that the other Squid Sister's mirth was an act. Her eyes kept stealing glances at the shades in her hands, and then back to Callie.

After a while, Marie stopped trying to hide her worry altogether as she stowed the shades in her ink pack. "Are you…  _ sure _ you're alright?"

"I'm fine Marie. It was a brief relapse. That's it," Callie said.

"... Okay. I… I trust you," Marie said. She turned away from her cousin. "Let's see if we can find any more of Three's equipment while we're here."

"Sure," Callie responded.

And as Marie started walking back to the supply room, Callie couldn't stop her eyes from fixating on the small pocket that the shades had been stowed in...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. I've been busy. VERY busy.
> 
> But on the plus side, this story has hit exactly 150 comments! Great job, guys! How about y'all comment some more to make that number grow even higher!


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you  _ sure _ that you still want to marry me?" Marina asked.

Pearl sighed. "Marina, you've gotta stop doing this. Yes. A thousand times yes. I still want to marry you."

"But if you do, I have a feeling that things like this will happen a lot. If you marry me, you'll never have a normal life again," Marina said.

"Rina, at what point in the many years you've known me did you ever think that I wanted a normal life?" Pearl said with a slight roll of her eyes.

"I-I know, it's just-"

"Rina. I love you. I love you more than anything and anyone. I would burn Inkopolis to the ground for you."

"Please don't."

"Then I would lasso the moon for you."

"Not physically possible."

"You know what I mean," Pearl said, exasperated. "I'm not letting  _ anything _ \- spell it, A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G - get in the way of me marrying you."

"Okay," Marina said, and then hesitated. "But are you  _ sure _ you're sure?"

"Marina!"

"Sorry, sorry."

Pearl sighed. "Now that  _ that's _ out of the way, what does your tracker say?"

"Oh yes… It says… this way!" Marina said, pointing down a nearby staircase.

"'Kay, let's go-oh shit!"

Pearl backed up into the shadows and pulled her fiancée with her as an octoling stepped up the staircase and passed by.

The two members of Off the Hook stayed silent for several moments after the octoling left their sights. Then Marina whispered, "That was a bit too close."

"... Yeah. Let's focus on stealth a bit more, why don't we?" Pearl said.

"Right," Marina said.

The two carefully made their way down the staircase and found themselves in a hallway surrounded by large windows. Behind those windows were several displays filled with different artifacts and devices. Pearl was prepared to walk right past them, but Marina was clearly fascinated.

"I remember some of these," Marina said. "But a lot of them are new."

"Where'd all this junk come from?" Pearl asked.

"This  _ junk _ ," Marina said, "is the backbone of octarian technology. Ancient relics fished out of the ocean are how we got our edge. I guess most of it is from humans, but I bet some of this tech is from civilizations we haven't even heard of!"

"Pretty neat," Pearl said.

Marina looked down at her phone, then frowned. "Looks like something in here is giving our signal to Eight's goggles some interference, because my tracker is saying that they're in here when they clearly aren't."

"So… what do we do about that?" Pearl asked.

"Well we could either wander blindly looking for her goggles,  _ or _ we could look for what's causing the interference and I could block its signal."

Pearl nodded. "Second option sounds better."

"Good choice," Marina said jokingly.

The two continued down the hallway until they found a door that allowed them into the display area. They stepped in, and Pearl immediately started darting around and looking at the different relics.

"Woah! What's this thing?!" Pearl said, poking a plastic object.

"From what I recall, it's called a 'Wii U'. They seem to have been pretty rare in human society," Marina commented.

"What about this piece of junk?" Pearl said, zipping over to a small but complex metal contraption.

"Supposedly it was for making an entire egg meal. It would crack it, remove the shell, cook it, and then serve it," Marina said. "Humans found very work-intensive ways to avoid work."

"And what about thi-" Pearl stopped herself as she arrived at another pedestal. "Actually, no. No, I know what this one is." She turned away in distaste from the blender on display.

"Hmm…" Marina said, before sauntering up to a radio. "There we go! I think I found the source of the disruption." With a short turn of a dial, her tracker started functioning properly again.

"What kind of a radio is able to disrupt Marina-patented genius trackers?" Pearl questioned.

"Thanks Pearlie. That's sweet of you," Marina said. "But unfortunately my designs are limited by the flaws of electromagnetic wave physics. There isn't much I can do to solve that front, so disturbances happen from time to time."

"You know, I heard a lot of words there and I didn't understand most of them," Pearl said with a blank gaze.

Marina giggled. "Fair enough, Pearlie."

"So is it working now?"

Marina examined her phone. "Yes, it is. We can move on to finding Eight now." She started to move towards the door out of the display area, but then stopped in her tracks as she passed near an orb… thing.

"What's wrong?" Pearl asked.

"This… this is new. This wasn't here when I was still living down here. What… what is this?" Marina poked at the strange device. "It reminds me of… no… no, it doesn't make any sense…"

"Marina, I know it might be interesting, but we need to make sure Eight is safe," Pearl said, taking her fiancee's hand.

"You're right, sorry," Marina said, pushing the device off its pedestal and out of sight. "Let's go."

The two stepped out of the room and continued on their search. Meanwhile the orb, as it made contact with the ground, briefly flashed with colors, so many colors. A hypnotic cacophony of lights, before shutting off once again… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, brief PSA to my American readers:
> 
> Please vote. Vote, vote, vote. If you don't vote, I will metaphorically break your nose.
> 
> That is all. Enjoy the cephalopods being gay and discovering secrets!
> 
> Oh. And comment before you leave. It's the courteous thing to do!


	7. Chapter 7

Four didn't like to admit it, but she was bummed out. She was an agent. She was supposed to be more professional than this. But…

But she was bummed that she wasn't working with Marie.

Four knew that she should have been focusing on her descent into unknown territory (she thought as she leaped from one suspended walkway to another), but her mind was elsewhere.

Namely, her mind was on the person who had caused her current bout of loneliness- Callie. Four didn't…  _ hate  _ her, in so many words. She understood that the second Squid Sister had gone through quite a lot recently, what with her being brainwashed and then… brainwashed again. That was bound to have some lasting effects, but… it seemed like, even though they were a couple now, Four and Marie hardly even had one-on-one conversations anymore, much less dates, and it was always because Callie found some way to obligate Marie into staying with her. It had been getting worse and worse, and Four knew that Marie was too concerned by her cousin's fragility to do something about it.

Four growled at herself and kicked her foot over the metal paneling below her. She shouldn't think like this. Callie was not in a good mental state at the moment, and Four had no right to criticize her.

But darn, did she  _ want _ to.

Four hopped on top of a crate and surveyed the area below. She still had a ways to descend before she reached her mark. She knew that her capabilities in the stealth department were… lacking, to say the least, but she was going to have to start pushing her luck pretty soon here.

Marie would've been able to help her. Marie's great at stealth. She  _ really _ wished Marie was next to her right now.

"Don't do it, Four," she chided herself, knowing full well that she couldn't stop herself from making her next move. She activated her earpiece.

"Hey Marie?"

* * *

"Oh, Four!" Marie said, hand on her earpiece. "How is the hunt going?"

" _ Oh, well enough, _ " Four said. A clunking sound of Four's feet making contact with the metal panelling of the floor could be heard through the earpiece. " _ How about you? How are you doing? _ "

"Good! Me and Callie found Three and released her!"

" _ Really? That fast? You're really good at this! _ "

"Yes, yes. Flatter me more," Marie joked.

" _ I miss you… _ " Four spoke with a sudden, longing twinge to her voice.

"It's only been about half an hour, Four," Marie commented.

" _... Yeah, but… you know what I mean. _ "

Marie chuckled. "Yeah. I do. I miss you too, Four." The Squid Sister felt a smile on her own face that refused to fade. Four tended to have that effect on her. Just sheer, unprecedented happiness. "So any clues as to what's going on with that energy spike?"

" _ Right. Back to business. I'm not an electrical engineer by any sense, but I didn't see some of these wires and stuff on my way to save Callie. My uneducated guess is that this isn't zapfish this time. _ "

"Okay, good to hear," Marie said. "Any other observations?"

" _ That your eyes are beautiful. _ "

Marie actually felt a blush creep up her cheeks from that comment. "That was… remarkably smooth. Careful, you might make me faint!"

" _ Anyways, I'm going to keep diving deeper into this place. If you wouldn't mind, maybe… you could keep your earpiece on and we could chat? _ "

Marie was about to give her a response (a resounding 'yes'. To hell with whether it was practical or not), but then she heard a voice from around the nearest corner. Callie's voice.

"Marie, come look!"

Marie sighed. "Cal, I'm on a call with Four right now."

"Then get off the call and come look! It's important!"

Marie furrowed her brow. "Callie… okay, fine." She turned her attention back to her earpiece. "Four, I'm-"

" _ It's okay. Don't worry about it, _ " Four's voice said. Marie couldn't quite read the emotion behind it.

"Are you sure?"

" _ Yeah... I want you to do whatever you think is right. You know best, _ " Four said. " _ You have a good one. _ "

"You too, Four. I love you."

" _ Love you, too. _ "

"Marie, come on!" Callie's voice called.

"Jeeze, I'm coming!" Marie replied, turning off her earpiece. She begrudgingly moved to the source of her cousin's voice. "Okay, what is it that's so important?"

"Look!" Callie said, looking absolutely giddy with herself.

Beside her was a large propaganda poster of DJ Octavio. A large mustache was drawn on top of it.

"Waddya think?" Callie said, touting the marker in her hand.

"Callie!" Marie stomped. " _ This _ is what you made me hang up on Four for?"

"Yeah. I thought you'd enjoy it."

"I  _ don't  _ enjoy being dragged away from a conversation for something this childish!" Marie huffed.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood, okay?" Callie said, pouting.

"You've got to be kidding me right now," Marie said, feeling her eye twitch. "Stop interrupting my interpersonal relationships, Callie."

"Hey…" Callie said, her pout only deepening, "Why are you acting like this? You've been really weird lately. It's… kinda hurtful…"

All at once, Marie's annoyance grinded to a halt. How could she let herself start acting like that to her cousin? Her cousin who was still so fragile and damaged from the trauma she had gone through not even a year ago… What kind of monster would be so damaging to someone who looked to them for support?

"I'm… sorry, Callie. I didn't mean it like that," Marie backpedaled. "Please don't be sad. I'll try to be better."

"... Thanks," Callie said, and then her energy returned. "So while we're here, we might as well do some recon, right? Let's do it!" She started skipping forward along the faux-rocky path.

Marie sighed to herself. She really wasn't handling anything well, was she?

With a preoccupied mind, she trudged along and followed her cousin further into the military kettle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there!
> 
> Real life stuff (and a whole lot of it) and a rapidly declining mental state got in the way of me continuing this for a long time, and it still may be a while before the next chapter. But I had this one already written and was just procrastinating putting it out, so I think it's finally time.
> 
> I am sorry for making you wait on me, and I'm sorry that I haven't been consistent. I have so much love for these characters, but I'm struggling to put them down on the page. So thank you for being patient with me.
> 
> Now, after that essay I just dumped on you, don't you think I deserve a comment? Maybe just an itty-bitty one? Thanks!


	8. Chapter 8

"Jeeze. Long way down," Pearl commented as the fiancees came along a particularly unsecured pathway.

"Yes, but we've already seen several respawn points. We would be fine if we fell," Marina said.

"Not if anyone spotted us respawning," Pearl said. "Ugh, this whole stealth thing is really not my vibe!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure that we'll be able to get into a big shootout by the end of this," Marina said.

"You think?" Pearl questioned, a little bit of excitement peeking through her voice.

"Absolutely. I don't think there's a single chance that we all leave here unnoticed," Marina said.

"Oh," Pearl responded.

Then both the inkling's and the octoling's eyes went wide as they heard a whooshing noise approaching. Approaching fast.

"I didn't think you meant we would blow it this soon!" Pearl said, hands going to her Dualies.

"I didn't think so either!" Marina said, grabbing her own weapon.

The whooshing noise came to an abrupt end as another cephalopod touched down on the walkway. The newcomer, however, seemed to pay the two intruders no mind as she walked on with single-minded purpose. This would have been to Off the Hook's benefit, except for the fact that they actually knew this particular person.

"Three?" Pearl called.

A tire screech could practically be heard as Agent Three's movements ground to a halt.

"Oh. Hi!" Three said, finally acknowledging the other two.

"It  _ is  _ you! Are you okay?! Where have you been?! We've been worried sick!" Marina spoke all at once.

"Yeah, sorry. We, uh… we got ambushed. And captured. And…" Three mumbled something under her breath.

"Yo, we can't hear you, speak up," Pearl said.

Three hesitated a moment, then said, "... Brainwashed. We were brainwashed. And Eight probably still is."

"WHAT?!?!" Both Off the Hook members exclaimed in sync.

"Shhhhh!" Three cautioned them.

"You were brainwashed? Wh… what did they make you do?" Marina asked, completely mortified.

"I…" Three paused. "... I don't know. Let's just get Eight and get out of this hellhole."

Three immediately took off, almost leaving Pearl and Marina in the dust. The two lovers spared each other a concerned glance before jogging forward to catch up.

"Three," Pearl said. "Are you… okay now?"

"If you're asking whether I'm still under Octavio's control, then no. I'm free," Three said.

"That's not what I'm asking," Pearl said, prompting Three to slow her walking.

"I'm…" Three paused. "... Let's go find Eight." She charged ahead, making clear that she didn't want the conversation to continue.

The three agents continued with purpose. It was only when they reached a large, steel structure that they stopped.

"Hang on," Marina said. "This is really weird."

"Whaddya mean?" Pearl asked.

"What I mean is that this is the power station where power eggs are converted to energy. And that's the only source of electricity that the octarians down here have," Marina said. "... So why are all of the cords cut?"

She was right. Looking up at the structure, the three of them could see the frayed ends of once-whole wires and tubes that no longer were providing energy to many areas of the kettles.

"Not all of them are cut," Three said, pointing to one particular tube protruding from the area. It led down further into the kettle, straight to the center.

"He… he would really do that…? Cut off power to his people so that he can fuel one thing?" Pearl asked.

"I can tell you with 100% certainty: yes. He would," Three said, her expression filled with frustration and fatigue. "Let's head in."

Three led the pack, a fierceness in her step. Both Pearl and Marina knew that, in this state, the agent was dangerous. She was single-minded in her pursuit. She was going to get her girlfriend back at any cost. Anyone who got in her way would be tossed aside… or worse. In one way, it was romantic, but in the other, it was terrifying.

They entered on a catwalk overseeing the energy production machinery. Several octolings, all of whom were wearing goggles and were presumably brainwashed, worked away at dumping eggs and working levers below them.

Pearl took a step forward to get a better look, but was held back by Three. The yellowish-green tentacled agent silently pointed ahead of them on the catwalk.

An octoling was there, overseeing the work below and standing in the way of the door to the next room.

"Careful. The way this building is set up makes it a good echo chamber. We can't make too much noise or let anyone get alerted to our presence," Marina whispered.

She hardly finished speaking before Three lurched forward toward the octoling in their path. In an instant, the half-inkling had her opponent in a choke-hold. The octoling tried to cry out, but couldn't while her throat was being constricted. She struggled and flailed, and then slowly, finally, fell unconscious. Three finally lowered her to the floor and let go of her then.

"Eight's not down there. She must be further in," Three quietly spoke to her comrades. Then, without hesitation, she whipped around and pushed open the door.

Pearl and Marina, after recovering from the suddenness of that event, made their way across the catwalk.

After closing the door behind them, the three agents found themselves on a similar catwalk above a much different area.

"Is this… a stage?" Pearl asked.

"Yes, it is," Marina said. "DJ Octavio wanted any announcements to the people to have as much flare to them as possible. Lights, music, everything. To get that on demand, the stage was built in the same structure as the reactor."

"Huh. Interesting," Pearl said.

"I was one of the octolings that worked on the area, so I know quite a bit about it," Marina said. "Go on, ask me any question."

"I've got one: where's Eight?" Three said.

Marina looked down at her tracker, up towards the rest of the room, down again, and up again, and then pointed and let her hand drift towards…

"There."

Following Marina's finger with her eyes, Three gazed towards the seemingly empty auditorium. As soon as she looked, though, an octoling backed their way into view. An octoling with beautiful red tentacles.

"Eight," Three said breathlessly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there was a recent announcement that you may or may not have heard of. A Splatoon announcement. It's the good shit. And it will come with MORE LORE!!! GOOD SHIT!
> 
> (This series will likely not go into the new details from Splat 3, at least for the foreseeable future. My plans for this series involve the ocean, and... I dunno, I guess Pearl drained it in the final Splatfest? What the fuck did you do, Pearl?!)
> 
> By the way, Franny from financing says that we haven't been meeting our comment quota this month, so it'd really help me out if y'all boosted my numbers. Thanks!


End file.
